2012-13 NBA Season
The 2012–13 NBA season was the 67th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on Tuesday, October 30, 2012, when the 2011–12 NBA Champions Miami Heat started the season by hosting the Boston Celtics. The 2013 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 17, 2013, at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The regular season ended on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, and the playoffs began on Saturday, April 20, 2013 and ended on June 20, 2013 with the Miami Heat defeating the San Antonio Spurs in seven games to win the 2013 NBA Finals. Transactions Main article: List of 2012–13 NBA season transactions 'Free agency' Free agency negotiation started on July 1, 2012, with players being able to sign starting July 11, after the July moratorium ended. 'Coaching changes' 'Off-season' *On April 30, 2012, the Charlotte Bobcats released Paul Silas from his coaching contract.2 On June 20, the Charlotte Bobcats hired Mike Dunlap as head coach. *On May 21, 2012, the Orlando Magic fired head coach Stan Van Gundy.4 On July 28, the Orlando Magic hired Jacque Vaughn as head coach. *On August 8, 2012, the Portland Trail Blazers hired Terry Stotts as head coach, and demoted Kaleb Canales back to assistant head coach. 'In-season' *On November 9, 2012, the Los Angeles Lakers fired Mike Brown and named Bernie Bickerstaff as interim head coach. On November 12, 2012, the Lakers hired Mike D'Antoni as official head coach and demoted Bickerstaff back to an assistant head coach. Preseason The preseason started on Friday, October 5, 2012, and ended on Friday, October 26, 2012. NBA Europe Live 2012 was played October 5 – 7 and 9, 2012 featuring the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, and teams from Europe (Fenerbahçe Ülker, Alba Berlin, Olimpia Milano and Regal FC Barcelona). The Miami Heat defeated the Los Angeles Clippers at the sixth annual NBA China Games on October 11 in Beijing. A second game took place on October 14 in Shanghai. On October 7, the NBA Mexico Games 2012 were played between the New Orleans Hornets and Orlando Magic. Finally, the NBA Canada Series was played on October 19 between the Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks in Montreal, and on October 24 between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Detroit Pistons in Winnipeg. Regular Season The regular season started on Tuesday October 30, 2012, when the Boston Celtics defeated the 2011–12 NBA Champions Miami Heat 125-119 in overtime. The regular season ended on Wednesday, April 17, 2013. The entire schedule was released on Thursday night July 26 at 7 PM ET on NBA TV. For the first time since 2008, the NBA did not schedule any Thanksgiving games. The NBA's annual Christmas games featured, in chronological order, the Boston Celtics at the Brooklyn Nets, the New York Knicks at the Los Angeles Lakers, the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Miami Heat, the Houston Rockets at the Chicago Bulls, and the Denver Nuggets at the Los Angeles Clippers (thus the Staples Center will be in the rare situation of hosting two NBA games on the same day). A regular season game took place at the O2 Arena in London, England between the Detroit Pistons and the New York Knicks on January 17, 2013. The Knicks won the game SCORE. 'Standings' 'By division' Eastern Conference Western Conference 'By conference' Notes *'z' – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs *'c' – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs *'y' – Clinched division title *'x' – Clinched playoff spot 'Tiebreakers' Main article: NBA playoffs Format Playoffs Main article: 2013 NBA Playoffs '' The playoffs began on Saturday, April 20, 2013 , and concludes with the 2013 NBA Finals, which began on June 6 between the TEAMS 'Bracket' '*' Division leader '''Bold' Series winner Italics Team with home-court advantage 'Statistics Leaders' 'Individual statistic leader' 'Individual game highs' 'Team Statistic Leader' Awards 'Yearly awards' *'Most Valuable Player: ' *'Defensive Player of the Year: ' *'Rookie of the Year: ' *'Sixth Man of the Year: ' *'Most Improved Player: ' *'Coach of the Year: ' 'Players of the week' The following players were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week. 'Players of the month' The following players were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month. 'Rookies of the Month' The following players were named the Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month.